INDIGO. 313 



England, and sold at a very good price, though it 

 was not quite so well prepared as the French indigo ; 

 its farther cultivation in North America has not, 

 however, been very extensively prosecuted. 



In the year 1787 another source for the supply of 

 indigo was opened by the French, who then began 

 to import cotton and indigo from their settlement at 

 Goree, on the coast of Africa. This dye was pro- 

 nounced by the English dyers to be almost equal to 

 that of Guatimala, and superior to every kind of West- 

 India indigo. 



England, though now occupying so commanding 1 

 a position in the commercial and manufacturing 

 world, was for a long time slow not only in originat- 

 ing inventions and improvements, but even in adopt- 

 ing those of other nations. A long period elapsed 

 after the discovery of America before indigo began to 

 take its rank among the most useful ingredients 

 of the English dye-house. Richard Hakluyt, at 

 the close of the sixteenth century, mentions it as an 

 object deserving of inquiry, as at that time it was not 

 known in this country what plant produced the indigo. 

 Instructions were therefore given to discover whether 

 *' Anile that blue colour be a natural commodity, or, 

 if it be compounded of an herb, to send the seed or 

 root with the order of sowing *." The French name 

 of indigo is Anil; it is known under that term, or 

 simply Nil, in South America, whence it was adopted 

 by the French and Portuguese. It is remarkable 

 that Nile is the Arabic name of the same plant. 

 The name by which it is designated in English is 

 evidently a corruption of the ancient indicum, but on 

 its first introduction into England from America it 

 was usually known as anil. In Chinese it is called 

 Tien haam, which signifies sky bluef- 



* See Collection of Travels, &c. f Clarke's Travels. 



2 E 



